Thursday, September 14, 2017

Travelers, Season One, Episode Ten: Kathryn

Thanks to MacLaren's sacrifice, Kat survived the plane crash but now the team must deal with her. Kat is rightfully freaked out to be loaded into the back of the Traveler van and restrained. Kat is frantic to find out what happened to MacLaren and tells the team that her husband is an FBI agent. After a bit of struggle, Marcy is able to sedate Kat, much to Carly's relief. Carly actually wonders how Maclaren can stand Kat. Wow, the jealousy here is strong. With Kat now sedated, Marcy calls MacLaren's cellphone and it's answered by the Traveler EMT,s who suggest that the team deal with Kat and then return to the base of operations.

Kat is taken home and placed in bed. Trevor and Philip empty a couple of wine bottles to make it look like Kat and MacLaren tied one on to explain why she won't remember anything when she awakens. Marcy says that this is necessary because the memory inhibitor is going to feel like the worst hangover ever.

Back at headquarters, the team is greeted by D13 with D standing for Doctor, or in this case Derek. The Director has sent an elite medical team which flies across the globe taking care of heads of state to treat MacLaren. This suggests that whatever faults the team has, the Director must value MacLaren a lot. MacLaren is in rough shape and even with nanites fast at work, he might not survive. Trevor volunteers to grow new organs for MacLaren, which apparently is quite painful.

While the team of Doctors and Marcy work on MacLaren, Grant gains access to his hosts memories. He remembers falling in love with Kat and what a good relationship the original Grant had with Kat. He remembers the pain they had when Kat had a miscarriage and their ongoing fertility issues. MacLaren is confused by these memories because he now feels for Kat with his host felt for Kat.

As planned, Kat wakes the next day and is completely out of sorts. Kat wanders into the kitchen and is stunned to see the empty bottles of wine. Confused about what happened the day before, Kat texts MacLaren and it's Philip who answers since Grant is still in surgery. There are still loose ends which need tying up so Philip heads to the airport to pick up MacLaren's SUV. Philip quickly draws the attention of security and he is stopped when he tries to exit the parking garage. Philip is forced to incapacitate the guards but that doesn't stop them from contacting the FBI about what they believe to be a stolen vehicle. Forbes becomes concerned about MacLaren when he learns about the vehicle and starts to investigate. Forbes tracks the car and using dashcam video, is able to see that it's Philip who's driving. With police fast on his tail, Philip is forced to abandon the SUV and contact Carly to help him escape.

Forbes and Kat meet up at MacLaren's SUV and they discuss the changes in MacLaren. Forbes has noticed that MacLaren is suddenly a perfect shot on the range though sucks at squash. Kat brings up the changes in MacLaren's diet and the fact that he does certain things (read: sex) better. Kat is concerned that Grant is missing but Forbes calms her by saying that it isn't unheard of for MacLaren to drop off the radar for awhile.

MacLaren's new heart is finally ready for transplant and not a minute to soon because Forbes has discovered the hideout and he's gotten a warrant to search it. Damn, Forbes doesn't play. By the time Forbes makes it to the hideout, MacLaren is dressed in a suit, pretending to interrogate Philip. The ruse is that Philip is MacLaren's CI and that Philip decided to hack MacLaren, to show him how vulnerable he is. Forbes is pissed right off because he feels as though MacLaren has ignored him and Kat all day long but the ruse works. Forbes does however warn MacLaren that he needs to have a word with his wife.

With Forbes gone, the Doctors advise MacLaren that he has to spend at least another two hours in bed if he doesn't want to have any scars and that he cannot have sex for a few days until the nanites leave his body. Trevor is still in pain from growing a heart for MacLaren, but apparently the Doctors cannot give him nanites to speed the process along because they can only be used when Director gives consent. Before Derek takes his leave, he apologises to Marcy for not being able to help her.

When MacLaren returns home, his welcome is frosty to say the least. Kat is pissed that she worried all day long and he didn't return her calls. When Kat heads to take bath, MacLaren offers to wash her back, clearly awash with new feelings for her but Kat slams the bathroom door in his face.

Well, this episode deepened the love triangle that Travelers really doesn't have time for. Carly is clearly jealous of Kat and we know that Kat believes that MacLaren is cheating. Unfortunately, all of the good will MacLaren gained when Kat realised that he wasn't flying away with his mistress was lost when Kat had her memory erased. MacLaren's new found feelings for Kat are going to be a problem because now he will be drawn to his wife and have to deal with the ongoing relationship he has with Carly.

I'm not a fan of seeing a protagonist put in danger because we always know that they're going to make it. In this case, there was no way that MacLaren wasn't going to survive the crash. What I found interesting is that the Director went so far out of his/her way to save MacLaren, when MacLaren was only injured because he broke protocol. This suggests that the Director has a huge plan for MacLaren.

What I want to know is why Marcy isn't worthy of the same resources that MacLaren is? It would seem to me that having a doctor on the team would be a vital resource and Marcy is only dying because they don't do the proper research before placing her inside an ill host. I wish we had been given some explanation as to why other members of the team are not deserving of extraordinary measures but MacLaren is.